The use of alkaline oxidizing chemical compositions has been limited for various reasons such as limited stability of oxidants in alkaline environment. For example, chlorine containing products are highly corrosive to equipment and pose safety hazards to employees and the environment. Additionally, many oxygen generators are solids such as various perborates or percarbonates that must be dissolved prior to use and they have limited stability and solubility in aqueous alkaline solutions. It is also well known to the art and to the literature that, hydrogen peroxide is unstable at a pH greater than 7.0 and the levels of hydrogen peroxide at greater than 8 percent by weight in water are classified as a hazardous material for transport purposes as per DOT regulations (49CFR, Part 172).
Another major drawback of prior art cleaning solutions is that, it is often difficult to detect whether any cleaning solution or surfactant from the cleaning solution remains on the cleansed surface in order to validate a cleaning process. Detection often requires the use of suitable analytical methods in measuring the analyte at and below the acceptance residue limit involving specific and nonspecific methods to determine the presence or absence of component of a cleaning solution, preferably an active compound or surfactant. Examples of specific methods that detect a unique compound in the presence of potential contaminants are, but not limited to: High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), ion chromatography, atomic absorption, inductively coupled plasma (ICP), and capillary electrophoresis. Examples of nonspecific methods are, but not limited to: total organic carbon (TOC), pH, titrations and conductivity.
Prior art cleaning solutions or compositions are set forth in various patents.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,233,174 to Sheridan relates to a cleaning composition which comprises: (a) from 35 to 80 wt % of one or both of a fatty alcohol ethoxylate (having from 8 to 18 carbon atoms in the alcohol moiety and from 2 to 10 moles ethylene oxide per mole alcohol) and a higher alkyl phenol ethoxylate (having from 8 to 12 carbon atoms in the alkyl moiety and from 4 to 10 moles ethylene oxide per mole phenol); and (b) from 65 to 20 wt % of a phenol, or lower alkyl phenol, ethoxylate having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms in the alkyl group (if present) and from 3 to 10 moles ethylene oxide per mole phenol.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,414,128 to Goffinet relates to liquid detergent compositions, particularly for use as hard surface cleaners, comprising 1%-20% surfactant, 0.5%-10% mono- or sesquiterpenes, and 0.5%-10% of a polar solvent having solubility in water of from 0.2% to 10%, preferably benzyl alcohol.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,759,440 to Van Hemelrijk relates to an aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide allegedly stabilized by incorporation of a composition containing a mixture of an alkali metal pyrophosphate or alkaline earth metal pyrophosphate with a stabilizer belonging to the category of aminopolycarboxylic acids corresponding to the following general formula:

where x and y are integers equal to 0, 1 or 2
and salts of these acids.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,855,217 to John Andreas relates to a device for cleaning surfaces which are soiled in the food industry with grease, starch or protein residues including: a housing body having a first inlet for feeding pressurized water; a propulsion jet positioned behind the inlet and in a direction of flow; a collection jet positioned behind the propulsion jet which is flow connected with a second inlet for feeding a chlorine-free alkaline foam cleaning agent and a third inlet for feeding a hydrogen peroxide solution; and a turbulence chamber into which an elongated jet body of the collection jet extends, the turbulence chamber fitted with a chamber inlet for feeding compressed air into the chamber such that, a hydrogen peroxide foam is formed from a solution formed upon dosing an effective amount of the hydrogen peroxide solution into the chlorine-free alkaline foam cleaner at a maximum of 60 seconds prior to contact of the hydrogen peroxide foam with a surface to be cleaned, the turbulence chamber further having a chamber outlet through which the hydrogen peroxide foam leaves the chamber to contact the surface, the chamber inlet and the chamber outlet being fitted in a direction of flow ahead of an outlet orifice of the jet body.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,316,399 to Melikyan et al. relates to a cleaning composition including a terpene such as D-limonene or Orange oil and hydrogen peroxide or an alkaline stable peroxide in a surfactant based aqueous solution.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,767,881 to Griese relates to compositions that include: (a) a terpene compound; (b) a surfactant; and (c) an ethoxylated aryl alcohol.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,846,793 to Griese relates to compositions that include: a surfactant having an HLB value from 1 to 10; and a compound of formula (I):
where; x is an integer from 2 to 6, y is an integer from 0 to 5, R is a bond or (C1-C4)alkylene, R1 is a hydrogen, halo, aryl, (C1-C4)alkyl, heteroaryl, cycloalkyl, or heterocycyl, R2 is independently selected from hydrogen, halo, (C1-C4)alkyl, (C1-C4)alkoxy, (C2-C4) alkenylene.
U.S. Publication 2004/0259745 to Asher relates to a cleaning solution for paper making equipment including an alleged stabilized source of peroxide in combination with a glycol ether solvent system and an alcohol ethoxylate. The peroxide system can be hydrogen peroxide stabilized with a phosphonate such as 1-hydroxy ethylidene (1,1-diphosphonic acid) (HEDP). The glycol solvent system may be propylene glycol ether such as dipropylene glycol methylether or tripropylene glycol methylether. This solution can be formulated with a pH from about 4 to about 12.
European Patent 0845525 to Eka Chemicals AB allegedly relates to a composition suitable for cleaning disinfection and bleaching comprising an acidic aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide, a surfactant, and a phosphonic acid based complexing agent selected from biodegradable 1-aminoalkane-1,1-diphosphonic acids, or salts thereof, of the formula:
wherein R1 is selected from hydrogen, C1-C4 alkyl and phenyl; R2 and R3, independently from each other, are selected from hydrogen, C1-C22 alkyl, C5-C6 cycloalkyl, phenyl, C7-C18 alkylphenyl, C7-C18 phenylalkyl, a C1-C10 alkanol radical, a carboxy alkyl radical having up to 10 carbon atoms, wherein R2 and R3 together with the nitrogen atom can form a piperidino, pyrrolidino or a morpholino group; and X1 to X4, independently from each other, are selected from hydrogen, alkali metal and ammonium.
WO 01/72272 to The Procter & Gamble Company relates to an alkaline hair bleaching composition comprising two parts wherein one part has an oxidizing agent and other part has a buffering agent: (a) from about 0.01% to about 12%, by weight, of at least one oxidizing agent; (b) from about 0.2% to about 20%, by weight, of a buffering system, present in an amount sufficient to generate a pH of the composition in the range from about 5 to about 11, wherein said buffering system comprises at least one pH modifying ingredient selected from the group consisting of (i) borate buffers, (ii) alkalizing agents, and mixtures thereof; (c) from about 150 ppm to about 5,000 ppm of at least one stabilizer; and (d) from about 0.01% to about 50%, by weight, of at least one hair care ingredient selected from the group consisting of (i) surfactants, (ii) catalysts, (iii) thickeners, (iv) conditioners, and mixtures thereof.
WO 03/092917 to Ecolab Inc. relates to the disclosed use of and a method for cleaning surfaces of medical production facilities by means of aqueous alkaline cleaning solutions and active oxygen.
European Patent 0666308 to The Procter & Gamble Company relates to an aqueous cleaning compositions comprising hydrogen peroxide, a 2-alkyl alkanol, a hydrophobic surfactant having an HLB below 14 and an anionic surfactant. The invention also encompasses the use of 2-alkyl alkanols together with hydrophobic surfactants, in aqueous cleaning compositions, so as to allegedly improve the greasy cleaning of said compositions.
WO 94/11474 to The Procter & Gamble Company relates to cleaning compositions which are reportedly pseudoplastic and thixotropic liquids. Such suitable compositions can be prepared in the form of aqueous emulsions of nonionic surfactants.
WO 96/30485 to the Warwick International Group Limited relates to concentrated aqueous alkaline isotropic liquid detergent composition comprising a mixture of nonionic and anionic surfactants and dissolved hydrogen peroxide. The mixture also contains a hydrotrope selected from the group comprising polyhydric alcohols with a flashpoint greater than 30° C., and other alcohols with a flashpoint greater than 30° C. or mixtures thereof.
Moreover, industries such as the pharmaceutical industry clean their manufacturing tanks and other processing equipments with detergent-based cleaners to remove traces of the products processed in the equipment. It is critically important to ensure that, the cleaning process has effectively removed drugs and cleaning product residues from the equipment avoiding cross contamination from one batch of the product to another and avoid any negative impact. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also requires that tests be conducted to validate the cleaning process. It is a common practice to determine the level of residual cleaning product by a non-specific analytical method, such as Total Organic Carbon (TOC) analysis. This approach is limited in that it only offers information about the water-soluble carbon content of all components in the residue and not about specific components in the cleaning product. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) is the method of choice for determining the level of residual pharmaceutical product on the equipment. It is a highly sensitive analytical technique in detecting specific components of the residue and/or cleaning composition. Most components of cleaning products may not contain a detectable species, or chromophore, which can be detected by the HPLC with UV detectors. HPLC uses a combination of chromatography for separating the rinsate into components, and UV/visible spectroscopy at a fixed wavelength for detection, dependent on the component to be analyzed. The HPLC is thus set to detect for signals at two (or more) wavelengths, one corresponding to a known component of the pharmaceutical product or other chemical expected to be left in the equipment after processing, and one corresponding to the detectable substance. The FDA requires that, equipment be clean prior to use is nothing new, the 1963 GMP regulations (Part 133.4) and in 1978 CGMP regulations (211.67) with the main rationale for requiring clean equipment is to prevent contamination or adulteration of drug products. Though the FDA does not intend to set acceptance specifications or methods for determining whether a cleaning process is validated, some limits that have been mentioned by industry representatives in the literature or in presentations include analytical detection levels such as 10 ppm, biological activity levels such as 1/1000 of the normal therapeutic dose, and organoleptic levels such as no visible residue. It is impractical for FDA to set the acceptance specifications due to the wide variation in equipment and products.